Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the leading scorer in NBA history. He was selected to a record 19 All-Star teams. He won six world championships---five with the Los Angeles Lakers---after bringing three national titles to the city while at UCLA.

In short, Abdul-Jabbar is as accomplished as any athlete walking the planet.

Oh, sure, you could quibble with that. And why not? Such conversations are nothing if not fun for sports fans.

That has pretty much been the thinking behind Sporting News' yearlong "Great Debates" series, the fifth installment of which is in the magazine set to hit newsstands this week---focusing on the top 10 "game changers" of all time in baseball, basketball, football, hockey and stock-car racing.

Needless to say---it is needless, right?---Kareem is on that list. For crying out loud, the NCAA banned the slam dunk in an absurd overreaction to his dominance.

But for all of Abdul-Jabbar's influence, for all of his accomplishments, the man feels "slighted" by the Lakers organization, as he explains in a six-page interview in the magazine.

Why? There are multiple reasons---and we're not going to spoil all the goods here---but one of them has to do with the statues that have been erected outside Staples Center.

There are five of them: of Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Chick Hearn, Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya.

Notice who's not on that list?

Yes, the great Lakers center Mike Smrek. And also Abdul-Jabbar, who has this to say in his "Sporting News Conversation":

"I don't understand (it). It's either an oversight or they're taking me for granted. I'm not going to try to read people's minds, but it doesn't make me happy. It's definitely a slight. I feel slighted."

In a subsequent statement passed along by his business manager, Abdul-Jabbar said: "I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success. I guess being the lynchpin for five world championships is not considered significant enough in terms of being part of Laker history."

The Lakers offered this response, via spokesman John Black:

"We've been at Staples Center 11 years and have two ex-players who have statues now. It's not like we do it every year; we have no timetable. Whenever we do the next statue of the third Los Angeles Lakers player, it (will be) Kareem---and he has been told that. Again, we didn't say when that was going to be. It could be next year, the year after or several years from now."